Events
The Nature Club holds regularly scheduled events like the Environmental Commission Conference throughout each year. Every year on the first Saturday in March, we hold the East Coast Vulture Festival in conjunction with the Wenonah Environmental Commission. On the first Saturday in May, we hold Gloucester County Bird Quest. Also in May, we hold our annual plant sale at the regular May club meeting. In the summer we offer a series of special fieldtrips and every winter we hold the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. For more information on each of these events you can look to our most recent newsletter or check here again in the next few weeks for updates to this page.
Upcoming GCNC Events
Field Trip: Morning Nature Walk at Wheelabrator Wildlife Refuge
September 18, 2010 (Saturday), 8:00 AM to Noon
Trip Leaders: Gale Cannon and Karl Anderson
Meet at 8:00 AM at the parking area for the West Deptford Scenic Trail. Bring binoculars, beverage, and insect repellent. Dress to suit the weather. This will be a leisurely walk on a level, dry mowed trail. We might also visit some fields near the Riverwinds complex. We should see some summer flowers and grasses, a few birds, some butterflies, and a few dragonflies.
Directions: See your guide to the Natural Places of Gloucester County. Or, from Interstate 295 Exit 23 (Route 130) take Route 130 North for about 0.8 mile. The entrance road for Wheelabrator is on the left. The refuge parking lot is on the right side of the entrance road, just before the main gate. For additional information contact the leaders at 856-845-7075.
Upcoming Events by other organizations
September 11 (Saturday) 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM (Rain Date: Sunday Sept. 12 from 1:00 - 4:00 PM) - Rain Garden Planting at Scotland Run Nature Center, Academy Ave. & Fries Mill Rd., Clayton. Adults and children welcome. Grab those gardening gloves and join us to build a rain garden and help protect the Maurice River. Rain carries pollutants like excess lawn and garden fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, yard wastes, oil, car chemicals, sediment, and animal wastes into storm drains and ultimately into streams and rivers. Please bring gloves and shovels. Sponsored by the South Jersey Land & WAter Trust. For more info please contact Christine Nolan at 856-881-2269 or email her at cnolan@sjlandwater.org.
September 12 (Sunday) – 8:45 AM to Mid-afternoon. Sodpipers at Pedricktown. Leader: Lloyd Shaw. $Fee. Sponsored by the Rancocas Nature Center. For info: phone 609-261-2495.
September 18 (Saturday) – Cradle of Birding Wildlife & Conservation Festival. 7:00 AM - 3:00 PM at the John Heinz NWR at 8601 Lindbergh Blvd in SW Philadelphia. Live Animals, Workshops, Music, Fly-Tying, Birding, Photography, Food. Sponsored by the US Fish & Wildlife Service and friends of Heinz NWR. FREE. For info call 215-365-3118 or visit http://heinz.fws.gov.
September 18 (Saturday) 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM – Volunteer Stream Assessment Training: Help Protect Our Local Streams at Auletto’s Catering Hall, Deptford, NJ. The South Jersey Land & Water Trust is gathering information on the health of local streams so as to prioritize future restoration efforts including stream cleanups, tree plantings, stream bank stabilizations, non-native species removal, and more. Volunteers are needed to conduct visual assessments of stream reaches in the region’s watersheds. During the assessment, both general and specific information about the stream reach and surrounding watershed is recorded (i.e. stream width and depth, bank stability, streamside vegetation, and surrounding land use). Sponsored by the South Jersey Land & WAter Trust. For more info please contact Christine Nolan at 856-881-2269 or email her at cnolan@sjlandwater.org.
September 19 (Sunday) – Jersey Fresh Dinner. Old Pine Farm Lands Trust is having a "Jersey Fresh Dinner " from 4 PM to 8 PM at 340 Pine St., Deptford, NJ rain or shine. Any questions contact Ed Cleary 856-228-6890. Also, Old Pine Farm Lands Trust is having a monthly "Walk in the Wild" every 3rd Sunday of the month from 1 PM to 3 PM, Free. The walk for September will be on 9/19.
September 19 (Sunday). 4:00 PM. 11th Annual Parade of Ponds and Garden Tour begins and ends at 702 Mid-Atlantic Parkway in West Deptford. The self-guided tour of local ponds and gardens begins at 4:00 PM. It is followed by a Wine and Cheese Finale (hors d'oeuvres and desserts) at 6:30 PM. This event is a major fund raiser for the GFWC Woman's Club of West Deptford's Scholarship Fund. Tickets: $12. Call Ellen at 856-468-7012 for more information and tickets.
September 25 (Saturday) – 9:00 AM to Mid-afternoon. Burlington County Trees. Leader: Karl Anderson. $Fee. Sponsored by the Rancocas Nature Center. For info: phone 609-261-2495; or contact Karl directly at 856-845-7075.
September 26 (Sunday) – 3:00 PM. Parvin State Park, Pittsgrove, Salem County - Parvin Lake State Park covers approximately 1,000 acres in Salem County and includes Parvin Lake, cabins, an interpretive center, campsites, swimming facilities and many miles of hiking trails. The lake was created in 1783 to provide power for a sawmill and the area was acquired by the state in 1930. In the 1930’s many projects at the park were completed by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The walk will follow the trail around Parvin Lake, which passes through pine-oak uplands, red maple wetlands and stands of Atlantic white cedar. We will see many of the fall blooming flowers including asters, goldenrods, cardinal flower, turtlehead and a small population of nodding lady’s tresses orchids. The trail is also an excellent birding location. After the hike we will have lunch at the picnic grove on the lake. The trail may be wet, so please wear appropriate footwear. Bring insect repellant, your camera, binoculars, pack a lunch and expect to hike about 3-4 miles. Sponsored by the South Jersey Land & Water Trust. For more info please contact Christine Nolan at 856-881-2269 or email her at cnolan@sjlandwater.org.
Directions: Take Rt.47/Delsea Drive south to Vineland, make a right turn onto Almond Rd./Rt. 540 or Take Rte 55 to exit #35 to Almond Rd./Rt. 540. Follow Rt. 540 approx. 3.5 miles to Parvin Lake Visitors Center, park in lot on right side of the road. Meet at the circle in front of the visitor’s center.
The following events take place at the Scotland Run Nature Center in Clayton. For details and to register, call the center at (856) 881-0845. All events are free.
Nature Explorers: Wednesday 9/1 at 10:00 AM
Bird Walks: Saturday 9/11, 10/2, and 11/6 at 8:00 AM
Nature Tots: Wednesday 9/15, 10/13, and 11/10 at 10:00 AM
Kids Fishing Contest: Saturday 9/18. Contact Terri Dalton (856-881-0845) for details.
Afternoon Nature Strolls: Wednesday 9/22, 10/20, and 11/17 at 2:30pm
Canoeing and Kayaking: Saturday, 9/25 at 11:00 AM. Canoes and kayaks will be available for free to explore Wilson Lake, or you can bring your own. This is a great way to experience this outdoor adventure if you’ve never done so. Make sure you’re here by 11:00 AM sharp!
Past Nature Club Events
The 11th annual Gloucester County BirdQuest was held on Saturday May 1, 2010.
We had another fantastic Bird Quest!! When I think about the World Series of Birding I’m struck by the longevity of that event. For 27 years they have consistently produced one of the top birding events in the world. While the Gloucester County Bird Quest isn’t in the same league as the World Series of Birding, it is impressive none the less.
As we start our second decade, Bird Quest continues to provide a wonderful value to the residents of Gloucester County and the South Jersey area with the additional benefit of highlighting the wonderful diversity of bird species we have in Gloucester County.
Why do we have this impressive array of avian species? Because we still have some of the habitat needed to support these flying colors of spring. But, I am worried. We lose more and more habitat here in Gloucester County and the Country each year. I’m hoping in the next year we can preserve another small area in Gloucester County – the old Maple Ridge golf course. If we don’t succeed then we will have lost just one more piece of open space but I think we need to draw the line somewhere. What we can gain is the knowledge that the same birds we see today will be around for our children and grand children.
Everyone knows the saying from the movie “Field of Dreams” – “If you build it, they will come.” But I would turn this saying around and say – “If you build it, the birds will be gone.” Help us preserve it. But more to come on that in future newsletters … For now, here is the update on Bird Quest.
Our winning team saw 74 species while the event’s combined participants saw 122. We had 250 people registered for the event and Woodford Cedar Run Refuge with their live birds back at the park was a great cap to a wonderful day.
Everyone received our Bird Quest t-shirt, a poster on bird migration in Gloucester County and had a nice lunch. This poster is a great addition to the t-shirt and another helpful educational tool. In addition, we had three full buses this year; with one bus filled with girl scouts who had a wonderful time.
I look forward to seeing everyone next year – May 7, 2011 at our 12th annual Bird Quest. We hope to keep the momentum going from this year and make next year’s Quest even better.
Thank you to all the sponsors and to all the people who helped to make this event a success.
If you would like to help or be a part of the planning committee please contact Brian Hayes at pnbhayes@comcast.net or call (856) 468-9272.
- Brian Hayes, BirdQuest Coordinator
For some pictures from the 2009 Bird Quest, click on the following link: Bird Quest 2009 Photos.
The East Coast Vulture Festival 2009 was held on Saturday, March 7, 2009.
On Saturday, March 7, 2009 the 4th annual East Coast Vulture Festival took flight in celebration of the communal roost of Turkey and Black Vultures that make historic Wenonah their winter home. The weather was mild as a spring day and as the vultures perched on rooftops or sailed the sky, the Vulture Day Children’s Fair opened its doors at Wenonah’s Community Center. This was the second year for our free afternoon fair, again coordinated splendidly by Kris Mollenhauer, and attendance exceeded last year’s success. Young and old alike were greeted outdoors by our festival mascot, Buzzy (performed by Anne Kram).The fairgoers enjoyed games, crafts, temporary tattoos, displays (including the new wingspan display) and the special presentation, “Animal Encounters”, by the Academy of Natural Sciences with exotic live animals including an African Grey Parrot, a Boa Constrictor, a tropical skink and a giant hissing cockroach. Judy Scott of Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge also entertained and informed festival goers with a live Screech Owl. The festival store at the fair did a thriving business. The overflowing and enthusiastic crowd spilled out onto the to the sidewalk and the RR tracks, many heading for a close up view of the vultures with Brian Hayes, who set up an observation station at Wenonah School where the vultures frequent the water tower. For many visitors seeing these birds at close range through binoculars or scope and learning their natural history was the perfect ending to their visit to the Children’s Fair.
The Evening Roost at Wenonah School completed the festival events with a program filled with entertainment and education. Nearly 200 paid attendees filled the large All Purpose Room, socializing and being greeted by Buzzy and the master of venues in traditional vulture mask and costume. Our guests enjoyed our fruit salad, cheese and desserts of distinction, viewed the information tables for Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge and the Gloucester County Nature Club and shopped at the festival store. The formal program began with a presentation by Cedar Run with a live Barred Owl and Screech Owl. Next the festival awarded three $500 VEE Grants to teachers from Glassboro, Mantua and Deptford schools (including our own Gale Cannon) to assist with environmental education projects (in each case butterfly gardens this year). The centerpiece of the evening was another program from the Academy of Natural Sciences, Raptors: Predators of The Sky, with live birds of prey and a live Turkey Vulture. The Academy’s Outreach Director, Michelle Bassler, was the presenter for this outstanding program. Education was followed by art as Jim Six continued his tradition of performing and bringing his music to every festival since our founding in 2006. The festival concluded with the birth of a new artist, rapper Vulture Vamp (also sometimes known as Sharon Oakes) who wrote and performed the rap, “Vulture’s Delite”, backed by her posse, the Road Kill Review Dancers.
The East Coast Vulture Festival is held annually on the 1st Saturday in March. Its purpose is to educate the public about the beneficial role of vultures and the importance of a healthy and sustainable environment, and to raise money for environmental education in local schools. The event is sponsored by The Gloucester County Nature Club and The Wenonah Environmental Commission.
For more information on the festival, go to our web site at http://www.EastCoastVulturefestival.org.
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